Pedal-action for self-playing musical instruments.



L. B. DOMAN.

PEDAL ACTION FOR SELF PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG-10.1914.

venior 5 III- M Jll Witne L. B. DOMAN. PEDAL ACTION FOR SELF PLAYJNG MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 10. I914- Patented Feb. 13,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- Wii'NCJ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEW'IS B. DOMAN, OF EAST SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO AMPHION PIANO PLAYER COMPANY, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PEDAL-ACTION FOR SELF-PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1917.

Application filed August 10, 1914. Serial No. 856,060.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Lnwrs B. DOMAN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of East Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pedal- Actions for Self-Playing Musical Instruments, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing's, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in pedal actions for self-playing musical instruments as applied more particularly to upright pianos and similar instruments in'which it is desired to conceal the pedals within the lower front portion of the case beneath the keyboard when not in use and also to permit said pedals to be brought into operative position when desired;

These pedals are flexibly connected to the fixed and movable sides of the pumping bellows or wind inducing device by means of folding links or levers constructed in such manner as to permit the pedals together with the levers to be folded upwardly and rearwardly from their operative positions through a suitable opening in the lower front portion of the case after which the opening may be closed by suitable gate or closure to entirely conceal the pedal and its connections with the pumping bellows.

The main object is to enable the entire pedal action to be conveniently and quickly shifted from its active position to its inactive or folded position by an upward and rearward pressure of the operatorsfoot without changing his or her position on the seat.

Another object is to provide simple means for catching and holding the pedal action in its folded position against a suitable retracting device whereby when the holding means is tripped the pedal action will be automatically restored to its operative position.

A further object is to operate the tripping means by the opening of the door.

Other objects and uses relating to specific parts of the apparatus will be be brought out in the following description.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the lower front portion of a piano case and pedals mounted therein in operative position, a por tion of the front panel of the case being broken away to show the interior mechanism and a portion of the door which is in its open position.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view of the piano case and pedal action showing also the pumping bellows and its supporting means together with a sliding door and operating means therefor and also means, actuated by the door, for tripping the detent when the door is open, said sectional view being taken on line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical sectional view of the greater portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1 taken just at the back of the lower front panel of the casing.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view of the same mechanism similar to Fig. 2 except that the pedals are shown in their folded positions, said view being taken on line H, Fig. 1.

In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I have shown the lower portion of an upright piano case -A having the lower front panel board a-, which in this instance is provided with an opening -a and a sliding gate or closure b, the front panel board a+- being located some distance from the back of the case to form an intervening space -A- of suflicient size to receive the pumping bellows C- and their pedal operating mechanisms presently described.

Each pumping bellows constitutes a part of the wind inducing device and consists of a stationary side cand a movable side -c-, the stationary side being secured to any available support, as a bar C', which may form a stationary part of the case or an adjunct thereto.

The movable side of the bellows may be collapsed in the usual manner aided by the spring D and is provided at its lower end with a forwardly projecting arm or bracket 1 extending under and beyond the stationary side c as shown more clearly in Figs. 2 and 4.

Rigidly secured to the front side of the lower end of the stationary side -c of the pumping bellows C- are separate sets of forwardly projecting lugs *2- and 3 arranged in pairs in planes, one above the other, the lower set extending forwardly a greater distance than the upper set for a purpose hereinafter described.

These lugs 2- and 3- are flexibly connected by links l and -5 to the opposite arms of a U-shaped frame 6 having suitable supporting legs 7 adapted to rest upon the floor-and also provided with forwardly projecting arms 8 for receiving and supporting a pair of pedals 9, which latter are flexibly connected by links -l0 to the front ends of the arms or bracket -l on the lower ends of the movable sides of the corresponding pumping bellows -C- as shown more clearly in Fig. 2.

This pumping bellows and its lugs 2 and -3-, which are mounted upon the stationary side thereof, are supported wholly within the chamber i-lat the rear of the front panel board a-, the lugs -2- and -3- being positioned in a horizontal plane near that of the lower side of the opening -a-.

The links 4r and -5 are arranged in pairs in planes, one above the other, when the pedal mechanism is extended for use and are of substantially the same length while the opposite arms of the ll-shaped frame 6 extend upwardly and rearwardly in inclined planes and are pivotally connected to the front ends of the links d and -5, the latter having their rear ends pivotally connected to the lugs 2- and 3, thereby permitting the lit-shaped frame -6 to be rocked upwardly and rearwardly with approximately a parallel motion through the opening -o'- and against or in close proximity to the front side of the wind inducing device or its support -C as shown in Fig. l.

The opposite arms of the ll-shaped frame -6- are spaced a sufficient distance apart to permit the operation of the pedals between them, said pedals having the upper ends of their rear sides provided with lugs 9- which are pivoted to the front ends of the links 10, the latter having their rear ends pivotally connected, as previously stated, to the front ends of the arms or brackets l.

The frame -6- is provided with a cross bar -11- connecting its opposite arms and forming a bearing to which the lower front ends of the pedals -9 are pivotally connected by loops l2 as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, thereby permitting the upper portion of the pedals to be rocked through vertical arcs about the axis on the cross rod -l2- for transmitting oscillatory motion to the movable side of the pumping bellows through the medium of the links -10.

These links 10- are disposed in planes substantially co-incident with the longitudinal centers of their respective pedals 9- to which they are pivotally connected and are preferably offset at points between their ends to permit the lower rear portions there of to ride under the lower edge of the support -C- when folded. to their inoperative positions as shown in 4.

The entire pedal action may, therefore, be folded or extended at will and, when thus folded, lies wholly within the chamber r at the rear of the lower front panel a-, thereby permitting the sliding door or gate -bto be closed to afford a substantially continuous panel or front board when the piano is at rest or played in the usual manner by hand.

The door -12 may be opened and closed by any suitable means, consisting in this instance of a rock shaft .l3- journaled horizontally in the upper portion of the front panel -ajust beneath the keyboard deck, as shown more clearly in Fig. 2, and has its rear end provided with a relatively long downwardly extending crank arm 1% while its front end is provided with a radially projecting handle 15- by which the shaft and its crank arm -14 may be rocked in either direction.

The lower end of this crank arm 1 l is flexibly connected by a link 16 to a sliding door -bwhich moves horizontally across the opening a and is opened and closed as the operating member -l5 is moved in reverse directions, the handle -15- being positioned at such an angle as to lie in a substantially horizontal plane close to the underside of the keyboard deck when the sliding door or gate is closed as shown more clearly by dotted lines in Fig. 3.

The construction of a pedal action, as described, permits it to be shifted from its operative position to its folded position by means of the foot of the operator without changing his position on the seat, and, in order that it may be held in its folded position, I provide a gravity catch or detent -l7 which is pivoted at its rear end at -2l on the front stationary side of the pumping bellows C and is provided with hook-shaped front end for interlocking engagement with a portion of the cross bar -11 etween the pedals 9 as shown more clearly in Fig. l, the front end of the catch being beveled or inclined so as to permit the cross bar -11- to ride under and automatically interlock with the detent or pawl -l7 when the pedal action is folded.

This folding of the pedal action is accomplished by simply placing some portion of the foot under the lower front ends of the pedals and thenraising the foot sufficiently to rock the pedals and their supporting frames together with the links t, 5 and l0 upwardly and rearwardly until the cross bar -11 is brought into interios locking engagement with the catch 17- as previously described.

In order that the pedal action may be conveniently and automatically extended or restored to its operative position as shown more clearly in Fig. 2 by the mere act of opening the sliding door or gate b, each pedal is provided on its rear side with a flat spring 24 having its upper free end normally spring tensioned some distance away from the pedal and adapted to bear upon the adjacent edge of the corresponding lever -10 when the links -4-, 5 and 10 are folded upwardly and rearwardly to the limit of movement and while the pedals are still a short distance from their extreme folded positions as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4: so that by pressing the foot against the lower end of the pedal to force such pedal to its folded position, the spring will be placed under comparatively high tension or, in other words, the pedals and their supporting frame -6- will be placed to their folded positions under spring tension against action of the springs 24 in which position they will be held by the detent 17.

As soon as the pedal action is folded in the manner described, the door or gate b is closed by the operation of the handle 15- and, in order that the detent -17 may be tripped from its holding position by the opening of the door -bto allow the springs -2#l to restore the pedal action to its operative position, said detent is connected by a link 25 to a crank arm -26 on one end of a rock shaft 27- which latter is journaled in suitable bearings 28 on the front side of the bellows support C as shown more clearly in Figs. 1 and l.

The opposite end of the rock shaft -27 is provided with a forwardly projecting crank arm 29 which is normally spring pressed downwardly by means of a spring 31 and is adapted to be engaged and operated by a tripping member -32 on the door -71- when the latter is opened as shown in Fig. 3.

This tripping member 32 is pivoted at 33 to a suitable plate -34 on the back of the door and normally rests against an adjustable limiting stop, consisting in this instance of one end of a screw -36 on. the plate 34.

The free end of the tripping member 32- normally extends over and beyond the free end of the crank arm -29 in the direction of length of the door and is provided with a recess 37- in one side normally registering with the free end of said crank arm at the inner end toward the pivot 33- of a cam 38 on the free end of the tripping member as shown more clearly in Fig. 3.

The crank arm 29 is located near the limit of movement of the tripping member -32- when the door is fully opened and under such conditions is adapted to register with the recess 37 and it, therefore, follows that during the initial closing of the door, the free end of the tripping member -32- will ride freely across the upper side of the adjacent end of the crank arm -29 without effecting the operation of the latter and also that when the door ap proaches the limit of its opening movement, the cam 38 will engage the underside of the free end of the crank arm 29-, thereby rocking said crank arm upwardly and similarly rocking the crank arm 26 on the opposite end of the rock shaft -27, thereby lifting and tripping the detent --17 from its holding position through the medium of the link 25 whereupon the springs -2%L-, which are under tension, immediately force the pedals -9- and their supporting frame G forwardly and downwardly with sufficient momentum to carry the links 4, 5 and 10 un til the feet of the legs 7 rest upon the floor in the manner shown in Fig. 2.

It is now clear that, as soon as the cam -3S has performed its function of tripping the detent -17-, the adjacent end of the crank arm 29- will have been brought into registration with the recess 37- to allow the rock shaft and detent connected thereto to return to their normal positions ready for a repetition of the operation pre viously described when the pedal action is folded back into the case.

The operation of my invent-ion will now be readily understood upon reference to the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings and, while the present structure is efficient in carrying out the objects stated, it is evident that the details may be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is 1. In a self-playing musical instrument, the combination with a case having an opening in its front side, a laterally sliding door for said opening, a pumping bellows, a pedal action for said bellows movable into and out of the case through said opening, of means separate from the pedal action for opening and closing the door, a detent for holding the pedal action within the case, door-operated means for tripping the detent only when the door is opened, and means separate from the bellows for projecting the pedal action outwardly when the detent is tripped.

2. In a self-playing musical instrument, the combination with a case having an opening in its front side, a laterally sliding door for said opening and a pumping bellows, of a pedal action separate from the door and movable into and out of the case through said opening, a detent for holding the pedal action Within the case, a rock-shaft and connections between it and the detent for tripping said detent, said rock-shaft having a crank arm, means on the door for opereting the crank-arm to trip the detent when the door is opened, and means operable at will independently of the pedal action for opening and closing the door.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of July, 1914;.

LEWVIS B. DOD/LAN. Witnesses:

MARGARET M. BROWN, MARJORIE JULIA.

7 Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

